Sunday, May 27, 2012CNA

TAIPEI--Tourists who visit central Taiwan's Taichung will get a hands-on experience that will help them truly understand the lifestyle of this city often missed by foreign tourists, tourism industry officials said recently. Instead of just sightseeing and shopping, they can learn to make Taiwan's famous beverage — bubble tea — invented in the city or participate in other DIY activities.

Beginning last year, Taiwan's Tourism Bureau and local businesses have been setting up tourism activities that let tourists get an in-depth understanding of the local culture.

For instance, Chun Shui Tang Cultural Tea House, a famous bubble tea maker, offers lessons on making the popular beverage. A recent course that allows tourists to hand-shake their own beverage- complete with marble-sized black tapioca balls at the bottom of the cup- has drawn overwhelming response.

Tea house project manager Angela Liu said eight months after the program kicked off, some 300 foreign tourists had given it a try.

“It's interesting to see how people of different cultural backgrounds react to tea-making,” Liu said, explaining that Japanese tourists would spend much time examining details of the tea leaves, while Americans would treat the tea as if it were beer to toast each other with.

Likewise, the Pao Chuan Food Industry Co., which is known for its suncakes- round flat cakes containing malt sugar- also provides workshops so tourists could make the one-of-a-kind desserts.

“You can tell from the fact that most of the cakes the tourists made are not round-shaped that they are full of creativity,” said Ko Yueh min, shop manager of the century-old cake maker.

She said the cakes came in a wide variety of styles- including the shape of Taiwan, Chinese word characters and even cartoon figures like Anpanman.

The campaign to offer tourists a different experience is being spearheaded by the iSee Taiwan Foundation, which works with the Tourism Bureau to promote in-depth travel in Taichung.

The goal of the campaign is to market the city's carefree atmosphere and differentiate Taichung, making it stand out above other competitors in central Taiwan- including key scenic attractions Sun Moon Lake and Alishan National Scenic Area, foundation officials said.